Dangerous Jobs
by ayjaydee
Summary: Charlie is hiding something from the team and Don, but how long will it stay hidden? Oneshot


**So I said this would be up awhile ago and I'm sorry if I kept anyone waiting. And let anyone who is obsessed with the characters of Numb3rs be warned, in this fic Charlie is a little OOC due to the fact that he's not afraid of a little blood and he's very stubborn and Don-like. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs, yada, yada, yada. I just borrow them from time to time.**

Dangerous Jobs

It wasn't supposed to have happened like this. They weren't even predicting that the sniper was going to come after him. After all, the probability was slim to nothing. But his numbers had failed him this time.

Half of the problem was that it was the NSA's fault. They had left him without a guard, and the result was the searing pain he felt across the top of his right arm. The bullet had left a clean but deep graze.

Charlie sighed as he realized he had left his laptop in the FBI office building. _Crap_. He was going to have to make sure no one noticed. He put his beat up brown jacket on over his shirt. _Better_. The bandage wasn't showing at all.

He pulled into the parking lot and parked in the designated spot marked on the sign. _Charles Eppes: Consultant_. He allowed a smile to cross his lips. It had been a birthday present from Don a year earlier.

Charlie got out and headed for the building. It was now or never.

As he entered the bullpen, he took a glance around. A lot of people had gone on lunch break. Don and Colby were nowhere to be seen.

_Two down, two to go_. Charlie spotted Megan and David at their desks. He started walking towards the conference room but stopped short as Megan got up from her desk and went into the room to get coffee. She didn't even notice him. _Great, now I'll have to deal with her_.

As he walked into the room, she looked up and greeted him with a smile. "Hey Charlie. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to pick up my laptop. I left it here because I had to rush to go do something. But everything's fine now so I'll be on my way. Where is Don?"

"Don's not here. He and Colby went out for lunch because of some bet that your brother won. You know Granger can't win a bet to save his life. So David and I are here finishing paperwork."

Charlie had been walking towards the door to leave, but as he passed the table, his foot snagged on a box jutting out from underneath and gravity carried him towards the floor. Megan reacted fast and did a half dive towards him.

Unfortunately, she caught him on his upper right arm. He let out a cry of pain before he could stop it. Megan instantly let go of his arm and supported his back instead. Then she pulled over a chair with her free hand and sat him in it.

"Charlie, are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Megan was frantically searching his face for any sign of pain.

"What's going on in here?" asked a voice from the doorway. David had heard Charlie's shout and had come over see what the commotion was about.

"It's nothing you guys. I'm fine," said Charlie, trying to shrug off the other two despite the pain in his arm.

"No. You are not fine," Megan said in a stern voice. "Stop being stubborn. Now what's wrong with your arm? You're holding it kind of funny." She was already peeling off his jacket despite his protests. The material slipped off to reveal a clean white bandage wrapped around his upper arm. There was a moment of silence before both of the agents started speaking at the same time.

"Charlie that is not 'nothing'."

"What happened?

"Does Don know?

"We should call him."

At the last statement Charlie head snapped up. "No. Not Don. Don't call him. He doesn't need to know about this. You guys weren't even supposed to find out. It's only a graze anyway." He flinched at their stares.

"Only a graze?" David's voice sounded slightly strangled. "As in, from a bullet kind of graze? Charlie, why was someone shooting at you?"

His gaze dropped down to his feet. "It's…it's not important. Classified." The silence unnerved him. "Just don't tell Don, okay? He's way too overprotective me anyway. This will drive him over the edge for sure and I really don't need that right now."

"But Charlie…" Megan started.

"No 'but Charlie's'. Just promise me okay? No telling Don or my dad."

Both of the agents looked at each other worriedly. "You know, if he finds out we kept this from him, he'll give us hell then fire both our butts. And then he will chew you to pieces. He has made it clear that nothing comes between him and his brother. You understand that right?" Megan stopped talking and looked at him.

His eyes had unfocused and his face was blank. "Too well," was the sentence that was muttered under his breath. Images suddenly welled up in his mind of his days in high school.

"Charlie, look at me," came David's commanding voice. He snapped out of it and the torrent of pictures ceased. Megan was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"You should really get that checked out," she said, nodding at his arm.

"It's fine. A little deep but it doesn't hurt that bad." David and Megan could hear the lie and the pain in his voice.

"Just go home and get some rest Charlie. Or we _will_ tell your family," Megan threatened.

"Yes mother." Charlie rolled his eyes, grabbed his laptop, and left for the elevators.

Behind him the agents watched him leave not speaking until he was gone.

"You know, I never would have pegged him as the ' I'm going to say everything's fine when it's really not' kind of guy. That's more like Don's kind of thing." David shook his head and sighed. "It must run in the family."

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"Hey dad. I'm home." Charlie shook his brown curls out of his eyes and looked around. He couldn't see his dad anywhere.

"I'm in the kitchen, son." _Oh, that's why_. He walked through the kitchen on his way to the back of the house.

"I'm going to the garage for a while. But don't worry. I won't miss dinner."

He heard a half mumbled 'you better not' and smiled. He always felt better with his dad around. It made him feel safe. He disappeared into the dark garage.

10987654321

About an hour later Don Eppes pulled into the driveway of his brother's house. He had been about to call his dad and see how the family was doing then go home to his apartment, but something stopped him. Instinct told him there was something wrong so he decided to stay at his brother's for the night.

As he walked into the kitchen the delightful smell of spaghetti sauce wafted to him. He inhaled deeply then addressed his father who was busily stirring ingredients into a pot of bubbling sauce.

"Hey dad. Can I crash here tonight? Work has been crazy this past week."

His father stopped what he was doing and turned around to face his eldest. "Don't ask me, ask your brother. He owns the house."

"Where is he? Or do I really have to ask."

"Where he usually is, out in the garage." Don smiled at that. He could hear the chalk flying across the chalkboard already. He got up to go see his brother but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "And Don, be careful with what you say. He seemed kind of out of it when he came home. I think he's really tired. Not that he would ever admit it," said Alan with a rueful grin.

Don stepped quietly into the garage. His younger brother didn't even notice him. Like always. So he observed him from the steps.

Charlie was, as usual, working on some extremely long complicated equation. But Don noticed, to his concern, that he didn't have his usual excitement and his hand wasn't the blur that it usually was. His posture showed that he was exhausted, but what got to Don the most was the way he held up his right arm. It was definitely not natural. He silently walked up behind his brother.

"Hey Charlie," he said quietly. His brother jumped and spun around.

"Oh my gosh Don. You scared the crap out of me. You know I hate it when you do that." Don could hear a barely concealed note of panic in his brother's voice. It was not something he liked at all.

"Whoa, Buddy, calm down. I wasn't trying to scare you or anything." He saw annoyance flicker across Charlie's face along with something else that was there for half a second. Don couldn't identify it.

"Are you okay Chuck? You're arm is at a weird angle and you weren't writing as fast as you normally do."

"I'm fine Don, just a little tired is all." He could tell his brother was lying through his teeth.

"Come on Charlie. We both know you can't lie to me. I know you to well." He laid a hand on his brother's shoulder only to take it off quickly when he heard the hiss of pain and Charlie curse under his breath.

"What is it Charlie? What's wrong?"

"It's…nothing. Just a…scratch," his brother gasped out while cradling his right arm.

"Let me see it." It wasn't a question. His little brother gazed at him for a second then shrugged off the jacket. Don made a sharp intake of breath. A sterile white bandage covered his upper arm and there was a small red patch of blood starting to seep through. "Who did this to you Charlie?" There was venom in his voice.

"It doesn't matter Don. It's just a graze. It's fine. Just leave it." He started to turn back to the chalkboard but Don spun him around again.

"I can't 'just leave it'. And it's _not_ fine. You aren't the one who's supposed to get shot at. That's my job. You're just a consultant. Consultants don't get shot, Charlie."

"I'm sorry bro, but that's where you're wrong, because I did get shot." Charlie's voice rose. "And do I have to remind you that I have higher security clearance than you? That maybe someone would target me for that reason?"

Don's gaze hardened. "Who did it? Why did they shoot at you?"

Charlie sighed as if he knew this was coming. "I'm sorry Donnie. But I can't tell you. It's classified. Besides, I've had worse than this." He looked as if he instantly regretted saying that. He had every reason to.

"You're telling me that you've had worse than _that_," Don nearly shouted, pointing at the wound, "and you never told me before!" His voice dropped. "When Charlie. And what happened. I want to know _now_."

Charlie avoided Don's eyes and cleared his throat. He was still clutching his arm and even though no emotion showed on his face, Don could see the pain in his baby brother's brown eyes. It was something Don wished he could take away, but right now he wanted to know just how much his brother was keeping from him. And how he could of hidden it for so long.

"Well, um, do you remember that time I told you guys I was going away for a week to the Rocky Mountains for a hike?" Don nodded. They hadn't even been there to see Charlie leave. "I lied. I, uh, had a consulting job for the NSA and it was close to the Rockies. I was in a secure facility, but somehow the group we were tracking broke in and, um, they, um…"

"Spit it out Charlie. What did they do to you?" The anger was starting to boil up in him like it did every other time someone tried to hurt Charlie but he hid it behind a blank expression.

"They beat me up pretty bad. It was worse than the ones from high school. Broke two ribs, a wrist, fractured my collarbone, and I was basically one huge bruise."

"Who were they Charlie? And why didn't you tell me that consulting for the NSA was more than just a one-time thing? And how did you cover up all those injuries?"

"I can't tell you anything about the case. It's…well…yeah. I didn't tell you about the NSA because you would have gone all big brother on me and you would have never let me set foot out of the house again." He paused as if searching for the right words. "As for the injuries, well, I suppose you don't remember this because you were working on such a big case at the time, but right after my 'hike', I decided to take a beach trip." A faint smile crossed his lips. "Well, my doctor decided that I was going to take a beach trip."

There was still something that didn't make sense. "But Chuck, the doctor would have called us. It's standard procedure."

Charlie shrugged. "The NSA covered it up. They didn't want anyone to know that someone had been able to break into their not-so-secure facility." He could hear the sarcastic and angry tones in his brother's voice. "But anyway, that's the story." He actually looked embarrassed by the fact that he had told Don everything.

Something clicked in Don's head. "Hey Charlie," he said, turning his brother around again, "You got hit this morning right? Because you were definitely in one piece when you stopped by really early. Plus David and Megan said you had come by to pick up your laptop." Charlie nodded. "Which means you had no time to go all the way across town to see the doctor then come all the way back to the office. Heck, that barely even leaves you enough time to get shot at!" He stopped, waiting for a response.

Charlie gazed at his brother for what seemed like an eternity. His expression was one of defeat. He looked away. "I…I bandaged it myself."

Don's shock gave way to anger. "You did what? Charlie you're supposed to be a genius! I seriously thought you had more common sense than this. That thing could get infected or worse. I am going to…"

"Don!" yelled Charlie, finally at the end of his fuse. "For heaven's sake will you please just shut up!" Don stopped abruptly. "Nothing is going to happen. I have basic EMT training."

Don was bewildered. "You…what?"

His brother rolled his eyes. "Are you deaf? I am EMT certified."

"I heard you. But Chuck, why didn't you tell me? And when did you have the time to take training anyway? You're the one who's always complaining that you're so busy."

Charlie sighed. He was getting tired of Don's non-stop questioning. No, scratch that. He was downright exhausted by this point and his throbbing arm wasn't helping. "I made time. Well, not literally because you can't actually _make_ time, but you know what I mean. I fit it into my schedule." He chanced a look at his older brother. He couldn't read Don's expression.

"That's basically why I don't have a bullet in my chest right now. If I hadn't moved sideways when I heard the gun go off I would have been a goner. I worked out where the bullet would have hit me and all that, but I'll spare you the lecture." Charlie hadn't missed the way his brother's breath had hitched at the mention of him being seriously hurt.

"Just promise me you'll get that thing checked out Chuck. By a _professional_ this time." Don shook his head and lowered his voice. "I can't lose you Charlie. I also can't make your decisions for you. So next time…just be careful okay?"

Charlie thought for a moment. "I will Donnie. But there's one thing I want you to know." He took a deep breath, using the anger that had built up in him to fuel his words. "I'm not going to say sorry because I'm _not_ sorry I put you through this."

Don looked as if he had been slapped. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sorry about not telling you because everything you're feeling right now is how _I_ feel about _you_, Don. Not just when you get hurt because of your job, but everyday. _Every day_ I think about what could happen to you. I sit there and wait, hoping that I never get the phone call telling me that my big brother is dead!" His voice rose with every sentence, the anger pouring out. "You have no idea what it's like Don. So don't come in here and tell me to be careful because I'm not the only one with a job that could get me killed!" He stopped talking, his breathing rough. His brother stared into his brother's blazing eyes with a look of amazement in his own.

"I…I'm so sorry Charlie," he said quietly. "I never thought…I'm sorry."

Charlie sighed and collapsed in the nearest chair. "Me too Don." They sat in silence for a minute.

"Look, Donnie, I know that I'm your little brother and you don't want anything to happen to me, but I'm grown up now and I can take care of myself." He rubbed his arm. "And I swear, Boy Scout honor, that I'll get this graze checked out in the morning if it makes you feel any better."

"You were never a Boy Scout."

"Yeah well, whatever." He really wanted to just go to bed and forget the day. "I suppose it's time for the inevitable now, though."

Don cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "What's that?"

"Telling dad."

His older brother made a face. "Ouch, that's going to hurt. No worries though, I've got your back."

Charlie looked up at his brother's determined face. "Thanks Donnie." He meant it.

** Wasn't that sweet? It seems like I have a thing for torturin...I mean, giving Charlie accidents. Now review, review, review!**


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